Peru 2012 - Day 2 - Saturday

Greetings all.

Everyone is working hard, or walking in the neighbourhood, so I thought I'd take some time to blog so I don't have to be up so early in the morning this time. 

The wireless Internet seems to be working pretty well. 

I went to bed around 2:17 am this morning, but didn't sleep that well. Lots of noises and a very thin mattress.  John and Carl, my bunk mates, were a bit noisy in their sleeping, as were the car horns, etc. 

Before I knew it, it was 7 am.  Many people were up at 6 am....arggghhh, but hey, that's life.  I grabbed a quick shower and then we all congregated in the main room for morning devotions.  I gave a few announcements and then Zack led us in a short devotional time.

After that it was time for breakfast.  Bananas, and coffee/tea, juice and buns with peanut butter and jam, as well as fried eggs.  All good.

After breakfast it was time to pack up and get ready to board the bus for our first trip to Pachacutec.  About 1/2 of the people on this trip are first timers, so they haven't experienced the 1.5 hour ride.  It takes some getting used to.  The traffic flow is anything but a flow, and the numerous speed bumps can give your kidneys a run for their money. 

It was, and is, a VERY warm day today. Must be in the low 30's with some humidity.  Being near the ocean brings some relief, but not much with that burning sun.  As the bus rumbled on, sun screen was applied to ensure no burning went on.  John lathered up his face, ears, and hair....interesting....no wonder he has little hair growth any longer.  : )

The bus ride was a bit longer this year due to lots of road construction going on.  Seems that all the main roads we are going to be taking are under construction.  That might not bode well tomorrow when we are leaving later in the evening. 

We arrived in Pachacutec to the joy of children holding balloons and smiling.  We entered the sanctuary and Pastor Sergio welcomed us.  It was great to see that man again.  He was wearing his red CANADA T-shirt and smiling from ear to ear. 

After a brief introduction, we put our belongings in the library and then Pastor Sergio gave us a history of the church and school.   I love it when that man speaks.  It's their 10th year of being a church.  He showed us a picture of the beginnings....one hut in the midst of a desert hill.

Now there are buildings and a Christian school, and God has been at the centre of it all.

We then took some time to learn some VBS songs as  a group in the sanctuary, and then it was time for lunch in the library. 

Juice, an orange, cookies, and ham and cheese or peanut butter and jam buns.  Yummy.  : ) 

It is a warm day, so it's important to stay hydrated.  It seems that people are doing that. 

After lunch was over, it was time to put people to work.  We began with painting the class rooms to get them ready for Monday school.

One class room floor  was also broken up because the concrete was very thin.  They are hoping to lay a thicker floor.   That was hot and back breaking work, but when I asked for 5 volunteers, I got them lickity split.  Cool! 

The rest of the group had to wait until 2 pm to go for a walk about in the neighbourhood.  Some helped with the painting and concrete, and others watched John assemble his kite and put it in the air with a camera so he could take aerial shots of the area.  I'm hoping to be able to put a couple of them up on the blog later today.

At 2 pm a bunch of people went for a walk in the neighbourhood to invite people for VBS this coming week.

A bunch of other women got set up for a manicure and pedicure time.  The tables in the sanctuary were strewn with nail polish, and other creams and lotions.  Many women from the church's women's ministry came out and got their finger nails and toe nails done.  They will be doing a Bible study and then receiving the bracelets that the coffee break women made at Calvin. 

Right now there are many children in the library being entertained by Erin and our group with games like, duck duck goose, and red rover, etc.  All designed to keep them out of the women's hair.  Erin is so good.  : ) 

Well, I'll blog more as the day progresses, and post a bunch of pictures when John gets them to me. 

BTW thanks for the blog comments...keep them coming as the group here loves to receive them. 


It's 9:30 pm now and I've just finished downloading 100 pics from John.  He took 500 today and couldn't decide what to take out, so I've spent a couple of hours putting them on the blog.  I hope you enjoy them.  : )  They are good pictures.

So, just to conclude, after I finished blogging, we finished up the Women's Bible study and gave out the bracelets and then loaded on the bus.  Another hot drive home.  I sat with Janet, and the other translators at the front of the bus.  They are lots of fun. 

I joked with Mina, and looked back to see some of the Cornwall boys sound asleep.  We must have worked them too hard with the concrete.  It was hot for sure. 

Once back home we took showers  (well, I haven't yet)  and then met for a brief time to read the blog comments together as a group and go over the events for the evening.

We would eat supper  (which was chicken and rice BTW, with a great potato salad)  then do some video blogging and get the craft and donations supplies ready.  That was a tonne of work.  The teacher packets came together well.

Just before dinner Colin and Jeannine read out my blog entry to the group  (with some snickering due to some mis wording, etc).  

It's now time to make some comments on the pics and head off to bed.  It will be a long day tomorrow......so stay tuned.

The group ready for morning devotions.

They were all on time and listened very well.

Nicole and Lori Ann and Marsha...all smiles...great to see.

Each year we make the tower of peanut butter (and now Nutella).  Jerry heads this up, and it seems that Ben helped him out this year. 

Here's a better rendition of the tower.  Nice job....now off to the kitchen with that stuff. 

My nephew, Kyle.  Such a cute Nephew.

John took out his kite aerial photography kit and put his camera on it and took many shots from above......some turned out really good. 

A nice picture of the many bars that keep people safe in Lima. 

More aerial shots. 

John's pics of flora and fonna (if that's how you spell it! )   

The Cornwall crew trying to concentrate with Zack talking.

Some of the great buns we use for our breakfast and lunches. 

This is our cook's helper Michael.  He's a great man.  Our cook and the kitchen staff does this for us as a labour of love. 

Michael and Erin...John put this picture in...though I'm not sure why.....and Erin wasn't impressed when she saw it.  : )

Juana is Carlos' aunt. 

What follows are the pictures of our Interpreters...

This is Samuel, a real ham.....he's the one in charge of our wifi connection.   

This is Jorge,  also known as "Coco."   He took a real liking to John's camera today, taking many pictures with it. 

Maria Gracia

She's a really nice person..spunky and a very good teacher today with our walk about group in getting them to talk to people they met on the streets.

Linda

Maria Pia

This is Janet.  She's the new Erin.  She will be in charge when Erin leaves tonight for the jungle.  Erin has taught her well.  She did a great job today.  I just have to remember to start asking her the questions, not Erin.......

John and his pictures of flowers.  How could I NOT have included these.....he would have killed me...and besides, they are beautiful. 

Clint.  He's blending in well with our group.  A nice man.  He worked hard today. 

Isaias.  Our final translator.  He's been on every one of our trips.  A good man. 

One of the many interesting vehicles on the roads of Lima. 

Lima loves their chicken, so it isn't surprising to see an advertisement with McDonald's for chicken, not beef. 

Mina worked hard today with the women's group.  Doing all kinds of nails.  Women and children just kept coming.  She did so well because she was so well rested, falling asleep on the WAY to the church...an annual tradition.

The many taxi's in Lima.  Hundreds of bus taxi's. 

The market where the "fresh" chickens hang out.  We had to make a slight detour, so a good photo wasn't possible.

Oh, I forgot, John has a telephoto lens to capture this great shot.  Chicken ready for the cooking pot. 

Reading the daily news. 

This sign welcomes us into Pachacutec. 

The children welcoming us to the church. 

Marsha getting re acquainted with the friends she made two years ago. 

Pastor Sergio had a welcome heart with other hearts with all our names on them.  Nice to see. 

Words of Welcome. 

Pastor Sergio giving his words of welcome.

M and M.  Megan and Madii. 

Sergio giving us his "short" talk on the history of Gamaliel church.  His wife and daughter to the right twice told him he was talking too long.  It was cute....what he had to say was good though. 

Sergio showing us the picture of the start of Gamaliel church.  A building and a field. 

Outside Sergio explains some of the history of the Christian school.  I was able to talk with Felicitas, Sergio's wife.  She runs the school.  It was a good history lesson on the school.

This is a nice picture of Janet keeping watch over the flock by day.  : ) 

The tearing apart of skids to make into walls for the surrounding homes in Pachacutec.

Getting ready to paint.....

Ian....contemplating something. 

Chris, also contemplating something.  : )

A close up of the names of all of us. 

Samuel teaching us VBS songs. 

A star is born. 

The group learning the actions to the many fun songs we will be using in VBS. 

We will make Pentecostals out of the group yet!  : )

Dianna having a hoot. 

Marsha too. 

A song that requires beating up...only in VBS in Pachacutec.  : ) 

Corinne and Nicole getting into it. 

Hey Lucy...having fun yet!  : )  

Ben....he was having lots of fun today.  

 Hey Mel.  Hanging in there in the heat.  Everyone handles the heat differently. 

A 3-wheeled pick up truck.  

More of the surrounding area.  

 So, Jackie forgot a hat, and could have used sunglasses today.  She borrowed sunglasses, and we'll have to get her a hat for tomorrow. 

Pachacutec just keeps growing.  

This was hard, hot work, but the gang did well.  They got the floor broken up pretty fast and the rubble pretty much out today.  They were sweaty to say the least.  

 We painted the inside walls of the classrooms today too.  Here's Kyle working hard.

Lugging all the concrete down the hill. The ramps and patio in front of the class rooms were not there 2 years ago.  Neither were the row of toilets for the kids directly behind. 

The Group  painting...well., all but Lori Ann...she's giving instructions.....

The supplies for the manicure time.  

 John told me this was his favourite shot of the day......

The different skin tones you see today.  Interesting.  

Maria Gracia.  Always smiling.  

 Doing the walk about. 

Saying hello.  

Some of the thousands of dogs that roam free here.  Some of them are pretty scary......  

Lucy talking with someone.  Way to go Lucy.  

They continued to let others know about VBS.  

Dianna in the thick of it.  

This flower has a spider inside it.  John thought that was pretty cool.  

Hey, one of the few cats that we will see in Lima.  

 More people doing the walk about. 

 No Jackie..you can't take any kids home. 

 The women's Bible study group. 

 This women's group was a hit.  The women were really happy with the manicures, and he Bible study went very well too. 

Here's Yvonne sharing with the group our purpose in being in Pachacutec.

Whew,  that's finally over with.

Tomorrow, John, only 30 - 50 pictures please.....and thanks. 

Until tomorrow then....blessings to you.  It has been a good day...now time for a shower and some sleep.  It's only 10:35 pm....yahoo!!!!  : )